‘I hope that I can fight it off’ 8-year-old girl fights rare form of breast cancer

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CENTERVILLE, UT (November 25, 2015) – It’s a diagnosis rarely seen in someone so young – an 8-year-old girl in Utah is fighting breast cancer.

According to KTVX, the third grader has the enthusiasm and smile of a child, but sadly, she also has a condition usually associated with grown women.

Chrissy’s father, Troy Turner, told KTVX, “It was about the middle of October she came to us with a lump on her chest and was scared.”

Chrissy underwent a series of tests that showed she had a very rare form of breast cancer, Secretory Carcinoma. It’s a one in a million disease for someone her age.

“I broke down. It’s a struggle every day worrying about my family, about my husband and now my baby girl,” said Annette Turner, Chirssy’s mother.

The Turner family has faced plenty of struggles in the years past. Annette is a cervical cancer survivor, and Troy is a Desert Storm veteran who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma when Chrissy was just a baby.

“She was our therapy when he was going through chemotherapy. She was always making us laugh and she’s got the wit of someone far beyond her age,” said Annette.

“I was scared the first time that I knew about it but I knew, I knew that I could fight it off and I hope that I can fight it off,” said Chrissy.

Chrissy and her parents know that she has a difficult battle ahead of her. It will start at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and she will undergo a mastectomy.

Family friends started a Go Fund Me campaign to raise money for the family’s medical bills while the Turners vow to stay strong for Chrissy. A Facebook page called Chrissy’s Alliance was also created for anyone who wants to keep track of Chrissy’s progress as she fights the breast cancer.